Ladies, and gentlemen, today we review a sequel to what may be a classic remake of an older live-action Disney film. Not only that, but this sequel was given a release over 20 years after the version that starred Jamie Lee Curtis, and Lindsay Lohan, first premiered. So, without further ado, here is my review for the one, and only sequel to 2003’s Freaky Friday, simply titled Freakier Friday.
Plot: Twenty-two years after the events of the first film, Anna Coleman (Lindsay Lohan) is now a single parent to her daughter, Harper (Julia Butters). One day, when Harper gets in trouble with her new chemistry partner, Lily Reyes (Sophia Hammons), both are sent to the principal’s office, resulting in Anna meeting Lily’s father, Eric (Manny Jacinto). Six months later, after Anna, and Eric get engaged, a psychic named Madame Jen (Vanessa Bauer) that attends Anna’s bachelorette party has a meeting with Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis), and Anna that causes an earthquake that very evening that only they, along with Harper, and Lily, can feel. The next morning, Anna, and Harper switch bodies with each other, along with Tess, and Lily with each other. Now, just Anna, and Tess did before, can Anna, and Harper, along with Tess, and Lily learn to walk in each other’s shoes before Anna, and Eric get married? In fact, will Anna, and Eric still successfully get married in spite of this hardship that Anna, Tess, Harper, and Lily are going through?
Now, as I’m sure many of us know, the previous film, Freaky Friday, was released back in 2003. Oh, and by the way, side note, for those of you that don’t know, I did rewatch Freaky Friday, and reviewed that one recently. So if you haven’t checked that one out, and then come back and check out this review for the sequel. Anyway, with this sequel coming out twenty-two years later, the question remains, was it worth the wait? Did we need this sequel? Or was this one pointless? Well, let me put it to you all this way! We didn’t necessarily need Freakier Friday. That being said, however, it doesn’t mean that this sequel was horrible, nor does it fall into the category of one like Toy Story 4 by making the audience wish that this sequel never existed. Instead, Freakier Friday falls more along the lines of Toy Story 1, or 2, Mary Poppins Returns, or Mufasa: The Lion King, for instance, in that, though this sequel wasn’t needed, it was really cool to have. I mean you can tell that Disney tried to make a mostly, if not fully, well-crafted sequel. Plus, once again, there’s hardly any woke content in here. So isn’t that nice too!?! It would seem that Disney has finally been learning to not cater to specific groups of people. I would say that if Disney continues to keep this up, then there may yet be hope that families will flock back to theaters to see Disney hopefully return to wholesome entertainment once again. Anyway, one of the things that makes this sequel good is that, though it may not be quite as good as the 2003 predecessor, you can tell that the filmmakers were trying to honor that predecessor as much as possible. For one, the fact that Disney was willing to wait this long to make a sequel, instead of making a whole new one regardless of whether or not they’d have the same actors, or actresses, that is most definitely saying something right there. Well, I’m delighted to tell you all that not only do we have new characters, and, therefore, new actors, but we have all of the same actors from 2003’s Freaky Friday returning for their respective roles. I mean you not only have Jamie Less Curtis, and Lindsay Lohan returning as Tess, and Anna respectively, but you even have Ryan Malgarini coming back as Anna’s brother Harry, Chad Michael Murray as Jake, Anna’s now ex-boyfriend, for some reason in this sequel, and even Mark Harmon as Ryan, Tess’ husband, for example. Then you have some of the newer cast like Julia Butters as Anna’s daughter Harper, Manny Jacinto as Eric Reyes, Anna’s fiancee, Sophia Hammons as Lily, Eric’s daughter, and more joining for this sequel. Now, how about the storyline? Well, even though, in some ways, Freakier Friday might feel somewhat like a beat by beat imitation of Freaky Friday, it also does a fairly good job of going in a newer direction as well. First of all, the film is very funny. The newer characters are also very memorable. As for the storyline, again, you’ll be glad that it goes in a fairly newer direction. People might think it could be predictable, and could go along a route of other films outside the Freaky Friday franchise (i.e. something like The Parent Trap). Thankfully, however, this sequel doesn’t end up being quite that predictable. And what’s more, there are more emotions Inception this film, from comedy, heartfelt, and sad moments, and other ingredients that help make a good sequel. And what’s more is that the audience can gain some valuable from the main characters of this sequel, both the old, and newer ones. Finally, did I forget to mention that though there may be one, or two inappropriate jokes in this sequel, at least there aren’t any scenes that borderline inappropriate? Seeing as that seemed to be the case for the 2003 film, that was a nice, and welcome change as well.
And that’s my review for Freakier Friday. Though it may not have necessarily have been needed, at least it went a newer direction than one might have expected. It’s fun, the cast is awesome, and the storyline is still really enjoyable. I would say that if you haven’t seen Freakier Friday, but have at least seen Freaky Friday, then definitely see it. That is especially if you want to see a sequel that clearly tries to honor the 2003 film as much as possible. Well, that being said, definitely see it, and see what you think!
Final Rating:9.5/10
Matthew’s Animated & Live-Action Movie Reviews 